Teen in $350k heist pleads guilty, admits to taking meth
A teenager worked with two men to steal $350,000 after one of them assured him that the victim would not alert the authorities as the money was purportedly “not clean”.
Vietnamese Nguyen Nhut Anh, then 18, and the pair took part in the heist on Sept 29, 2023.
He was arrested the next day after the victim, known only as KSH, made a police report about the incident. The following month, his urine samples were found to contain traces of methamphetamine.
Anh, now 19, is the third person involved in the case to be convicted in court and on Aug 23, he pleaded guilty to abetting the theft. He also admitted to an unrelated drug consumption charge.
The authorities have not recovered the money, and his two Singaporean accomplices – Darren Lim Jun Hao, 24 and Tobias Tan Wei An, 25 – were dealt with in court earlier in 2024.
Anh was first caught in Boon Lay Place at around 2.40am on Sept 26, 2023. The arresting officers felt that he had consumed drugs.
He provided his urine samples at the Central Narcotics Bureau headquarters and was released on bail.
Meanwhile, some time before Sept 29, 2023, Tan told Lim and Anh about a plan to steal the $350,000.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Ang said that Anh was initially suspicious of the arrangement and that Tan assured him the victim would not dare alert the police as the money was “not clean”.
Court documents did not disclose how the victim had obtained the cash and how Tan knew about the money.
The trio agreed to take part in the heist.
While out on bail, Anh received a message from an unknown person on messaging app Telegram on the morning of Sept 29, 2023. He was informed to get ready to commit the offence.
He left his home and went downstairs to join his two accomplices, who were in a nearby car.
Lim drove the car to a location within an unnamed industrial area and an unknown man, who drove a black Mercedes-Benz car, turned up around 30 minutes later.
Tan and Lim got out of their car, and spoke to the man for around 10 minutes. Tan then left with the man and Lim returned to their own car.
DPP Ang said: “Darren... drove the car to a separate location along Ang Mo Kio Street 12, and instructed the accused (Anh) to meet with the victim of the heist, request the victim to put the cash he had brought into the boot of the car, and close (it).
“Darren also informed the accused that the victim would identify himself as KSH.”
Shortly after 11.30am, Anh saw the victim walking towards the car. The man identified himself as KSH, and upon Anh’s instructions, placed a sling bag containing the $350,000 in the boot.
Anh then slammed the boot shut and Lim sped off in the vehicle, leaving him behind.
The victim ran after the car and Anh ran home. Anh deleted all the Telegram messages relating to the heist.
The victim alerted the police and investigations revealed that Lim had used $10,000 of the stolen money to buy some undisclosed luxury items.
According to court documents, Lim handed the remaining cash to Tan, who placed it in the boot of a car belonging to one Marc Alexander Chua Kai Xuan, who is still at large.
On Aug 23, the court called for a report to assess Ahn’s suitability for reformative training.
Young offenders sent for it are detained in a centre to observe a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling. He is expected to be sentenced on Sept 25.
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